


Broken Souls

by Knight_of_Hylia



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff & Angst, Gen, No resets, Non-Binary Frisk, Non-Verbal Frisk
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-18
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-15 16:38:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8063923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Knight_of_Hylia/pseuds/Knight_of_Hylia
Summary: When Frisk runs away to Mount Ebott in an attempt to escape from their old life, the last thing they expect is to fall into a world filled with monsters.The problem is: Monsters aren't exactly happy to see a human around. The last human to fall into the underground, only two years previously, had killed dozens and left those remaining injured and greiving.When Frisk learns of the monsters plight, they become determined to help them. But with no allies, no resets and their own scars to deal with, it's not going to be easy.





	1. Over The Edge

**Author's Note:**

> Hello!  
> I'm a little bit nervous right now... this isn't exactly my first fanfic, but it's the first one I've ever tried to post online.  
> I hope you guys like it!

Part 1: Journey through the Underground

 

Chapter One: Over the edge.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
It is the middle of the night on Mt. Ebott, and somewhere near its peak you are sitting against a large boulder and crying. A gust of wind makes you shiver and you hug the overly large trench coat you are wearing closer to yourself in a futile attempt to block out some of the frigid mountain air.  
' _Come on, you have to keep moving! ___' You think to yourself. You haven't heard any voices in a while, but you just _know ___that your pursuers are going to catch up to you soon if you stay here for much longer.  
So in spite of your weariness, you force yourself to stand up and keep moving. You continue to stumble your way up the mountain until, after what feels like hours, you come across a cave, which you go into without any hesitation.  
The inside of the cave is pitch black, but you find that you are okay with this. You just hope that the darkness will hide you from your pursuers long enough for you to get some much needed sleep.  
You press yourself against the cave wall and slowly make your way forward, trying to get as far away from the caves entrance as possible before you allow yourself to rest.  
But, far sooner than you would like, your legs give out from under you and you fall to the ground with a pained grunt. As much as you'd like to keep moving, the hours of running have finally caught up to you and you are too exhausted to go any farther.  
So instead, you curl up against the wall and find yourself sending a quick prayer to... well... you're not sure if you believe in God, but to whatever higher power that might be listening.  
'Please... Let me be safe here...' You silently plead as you close your eyes.  
Despite the fact that you are scared, cold and uncomfortable, unconsciousness quickly overtakes you.  
~ ~ ~  
"...Dunno what the boss is thinking!"  
The faint sound of voices causes you to wake up with a gasp that you quickly cover your mouth to silence.  
A quick look around reveals that several hours have passed. You find that you can now see entrance to the cave, thanks to the morning light that is shining through it. You can also see several men standing at the cave's mouth, though they only appear as silhouettes from where you are.  
"It's just a fuckin' kid!" Continues the voice that woke you,"I don't see why we have to be searchin' this whole goddamned mountain for em'!"  
"I know," One of the other men sighs, “But you know how the boss gets about his property."  
"Well I say we should turn our asses back and tell the son of a bitch to cut his losses," Says the first man, “You’ve heard the legends about this place! I can practically guarantee that the kid is already dead in a ditch somewhere!"  
As the men bicker, you quietly get onto your feet and slowly back away, trying to slip further into the shadows... Only to have your foot snag on something you can't see in the darkness of the cave, causing you to trip and cry out as your head smacks against the ground painfully.  
The men's argument instantly stops at the sound. One of them pulls out a flashlight and shines it into the cave, the bright light ends up pointed directly into your face, blinding you momentarily.  
"There you are you brat!"  
With the option of stealth gone, there is only one thing left for you to do. You quickly scramble to your feet and run farther into the cave, forcing yourself to ignore the pains shooting through your body as you do so.  
"After them!"  
You push yourself to move faster, but the men are quickly catching up to you.  
You're quickly going into a state of panic. There's no way you can outrun these men with your short legs, but you have to keep trying because you _CAN'T ___go back there! You would rather _die ___than be forced to go back to that place.  
Just as that thought passes through your mind, you find your heart leaping into your throat as you take a step and rather than touching the ground, your foot passes through nothing but air.  
The world suddenly seems to go into slow motion as you look down into the gigantic pit that you had just stepped into. You turn to look at the men who were chasing you and can see all of their shocked expressions, one of them attempts to grab you and his hand misses you by mere inches.  
And then, you are falling.  
A wordless scream tears itself from your throat.  
You realize that you are going to die.  
...And then everything goes dark.


	2. You're not welcome here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh. This took way longer than it should have to write.  
> I don't even have any good excuses, I just procrastinate a lot. :(  
> Anyway, hope you enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Chapter Two: You're not welcome here.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The day had started out like any other. Flowey had made his way through the ruins without incident and was quite looking forward to spending the next few hours soaking in the little bit of sunlight that made it's way down here for a few hours each day.  
But when he arrived at the patch of golden flowers, he was suprised to find that there was somebody laying there in the plants.  
"N-no way..." Flowey murmurs to himself,"Is that a human?"  
Cautiously, Flowey approached the flower patch to get a better look. Once he was closer, he was able to confirm that the person laying in the flowers was indeed a human.  
"Oh no..." Flowey groans,"This isn't good..."  
Suddenly, the human shifts with a moan, causing Flowey to quickly back away while letting out a frightened squeak.  
The human slowly pushes themself up into a sitting position, then they look around the room, probably trying to figure out where they are. It doesn't take long for their eyes to fall upon Flowey, who nervously lifts a leaf to wave at the human, causing their eyes to widen and their jaw to drop in shock.  
Flowey waits for the human to say something, but all they do is sit there and stare at him for several moments. It starts to make Flowey uncomfortable after a while, so he ends up coughing a bit to clear his throat (...his stem? He had never been able to figure that one out.) and then speaking.  
"H-howdy!" He says with forced cheer,"My name is Flowey. Flowey the flower! What's your name?"  
The question makes the human frown. They stand up and look around themselves for a moment before they seem to find what they're looking for and beckon for Flowey to come closer.  
Hesitantly, Flowey makes his way over to the human as they kneel down next to a patch of dirt that's free of flowers and begins digging into it with one of their fingers. Once Flowey is close enough, he can see that the human is writing something in the dirt.  
_F. R. I. S. K._  
"Frisk?" Flowey reads,"Is that your name?"  
The human nods and gives Flowey a small smile before they wipe their name from the dirt and begin writing something else on the ground.  
_"Where am I?" ___Frisk writes.  
"You're in the Underground." Flowey replies, "I guess you could call this the realm of monsters."  
Frisk gives Flowey a questioning look, before writing on the ground again.  
_"Monsters?" ___  
Flowey sighs. He'd forgotten how little the humans tended to know about monster-kind.  
"It's kind of a long story, and I'll gladly tell it to you, just... not here." Flowey says with a shrug. "Speaking of monsters, we should probably get going before someone finds you here."  
Frisk nods slowly as they stand up and brush the dirt off of their knees. Once they're on their feet, Flowey starts heading towards the nearby doorway and gestures for Frisk to follow him.  
~~~  
You can't help but feel nervous as you follow Flowey into the ruins. Flowey seems nice enough to you, but you can't shake the feeling that something isn't right here.  
Your journey starts out uneventfully, with Flowey silently leading you through several empty rooms. It isn't until you pass through a room with a lone mannequin that he finally speaks to you again.  
"From here on out we're going to have to go through some puzzles." Flowey says, "None of them are all that dangerous, but you should stay close to me just in case."  
You nod, and when Flowey starts moving again, you make sure stay close to the living flower as he leads you through rather intimidating spike maze, and then through an absurdly long, empty hallway.  
Once you've passed the hallway, you come into a room that splits off into two directions. It is here that you see your first monster.  
Sitting on a pile of red leaves is a large white frog. The creature turns to look at you as you walk into the room and you barely have the chance to see that the creature seems to have two faces before it lets out a frightened... meow? And quickly hops away.  
You hear Flowey swear under his breath. He turns to you and says,"We need to get out of here." before he continues moving, much quicker than before.  
The two of you move through the rooms as fast as you can. But due to the various puzzles and pitfalls scattered around, you end up being slowed down quite a bit. Much to Flowey's frustration.  
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!" Screams the flower as you fall down yet another hole, "WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!!!"  
You look up at him through the hole and mouth _"Sorry" ___before looking around for a way back up. But your search is quickly interrupted as a vine suddenly wraps itself around your waist and you are pulled back up through the hole and set on the floor right next to Flowey.  
You give Flowey a grateful smile, which causes him to blush slightly.  
"Hmmph." Flowey huffs, " We should get going. And make sure to watch your step this time! If you fall into any more of these traps I might just decide to leave you to fend for yourself!"  
You somehow doubted that he would actually go through with his threat, but you make sure to be more careful anyways.  
~~~  
"We're almost there," Says Flowey.  
A surge of relief fills you at his words. You weren't sure how long the two of you had been moving at this point, but what you did know was that you were beyond exhausted right now.  
The two of you rounded a corner and froze when you found the pathway ahead of you blocked by dozens of monsters.  
"Shit." You hear Flowey mutter.  
Despite the fear clutching your chest right now, you can't help but be fascinated by the creatures in front of you. There are more of the white frog things, along with some timid looking ghost-bug things, little slime creatures that resembled jello molds, giant living carrots, and some horned round guys with one giant eyeball taking up most of their faces.  
One of the eyeball monsters steps forward. It glares at you and speaks to you in a low growl.  
"You're not welcome here."  
You barely have time to react as the creature suddenly lunges at you, all you can manage is to fall to your knees and to cover your head with your arms.  
"HEY! BACK OFF!"  
Flowey's sudden shout is accompanied by a loud rumbling sound. You look up to see a wall of thick vines now standing in front of you, blocking off the monsters.  
"What are you doing!?" Exclaims the eyeball monster that had just attacked you.  
"This human is under my protection." Flowey replies matter-of-factly.  
"But WHY?" Cries the monster,"What reason could you possibly have to help that thing!?"  
"I dunno, maybe because they haven't done anything wrong? Maybe I happened to realize that even though we had to deal with one bad human that doesn't mean that they are all like that?" Flowey replied, his voice practically dripping with sarcasm. But then his expression turns more somber. "Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that Queen Toriel herself asked me to do this."  
Flowey falls silent for a moment, but then he suddenly reverts back to his smiling self with a shrug, "You take your pick. In the end, it doesn't really matter what my reasons are. The only thing you should be worried about is the fact that there is somewhere I need to be and you're STANDING IN MY WAY."  
At the end of his sentence, Flowey's face morphs itself into something that can only be described as... demonic. And suddenly there are dozens of white pellets in the air surrounding the group of monsters.  
With various exclamations of fear, the majority of the group immediately flees. The few monsters that stay behind are looking to the creature that had spoken to you questioningly.  
With a frustrated sounding sigh, the monster turns to their companions and says,"Come on guys." before they leave, the rest of the group following close behind them.  
Once they're all out of sight, the wall of vines quickly sinks back into the ground and Flowey slumps forward slightly with a sigh.  
You give Flowey a concerned look. He notices you and looks slightly embarrassed.  
"Hey, don't worry about me." He says,"I'm fine. I just... don't like having to do that."  
An awkward silence settles between the two of you. Not for the first time, you find yourself cursing your inability to speak.  
"Anyways... we should get going. We really are close to our destination." Flowey finally says.  
You quickly nod in agreement and pick yourself off the ground. You find yourself keeping even closer to Flowey than you were before, unable to help the nervousness that fills you now after the encounter with the monsters.  
The two of you turn another corner and find yourselves facing a large dark tree. You watch as a red leaf grows on one of the branches before your eyes, and then you watch as the leaf detaches from the tree and falls slowly into the large pile at the tree's base.  
Once you pass the tree, you find yourself at the front door of a brick house. Sitting by the front door is a flower pot which Flowey plants himself into after uprooting himself from the ground.  
You can't help but giggle as you watch Flowey use the pot to hop into the house. You quickly follow him inside and Flowey closes the door behind you with a vine.  
"This way," Says Flowey as he gestures to a hallway on the right.  
He leads you into the hall and stops in front of the first door you come across. Flowey opens the door and reveals a bedroom.  
"We should be safe here," Flowey says,"And you look like you could really use some sleep."  
As if to prove his point, a huge yawn escapes from you right then, causing the flower to laugh a little at the sight.  
"You go ahead and get some rest. We have some stuff we need to talk about, but it can wait until after you've slept." He says.  
You don't argue, your far too tired to have any sort of important conversations right now. So with a thankful smile you walk into the room and practically throw yourself onto the bed.  
You fall asleep so fast that you barely hear the sound of Flowey's laughter and the door closing behind you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter came out alright. I was trying to get through the ruins as quickly as I could since I didn't really have anything interesting planned for this section. (And I really didn't feel the need to describe each and every puzzle in there)  
> Hopefully the next chapter will come out faster then this one did. I pretty much know what's supposed to happen in it, so that'll help.


	3. Storytime with Flowey

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG FINALLY. This chapter seriously did NOT want to be written.  
> I'm going to apologize in advance for the fact that this chapter is pretty much just a giant exposition dump, and overall I'm not super happy with how it came out. But it just got to a point where I had to say "Fuck it." and post it anyway.  
> Hope you guys enjoy it though. And if you don't... I promise it's going to get better from here!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Chapter Three: Storytime with Flowey  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
When you awake some time later, you feel better than you have in a long time, despite the fact that you were still pretty sore after having run up a mountain-side and then traversing through the puzzle-filled ruins with Flowey.  
You take a moment to stretch before you curiously take a look at the room around you. You had been so tired when you came in here before that you hadn't really taken notice of the room’s appearance.  
The small, cozy room had obviously once belonged to a child. The walls that were painted a warm red that reminded you of autumn leaves were covered in various crayon drawings, and near the foot of the bed you could see a chest filled with several toys of varying types.  
As you look around, a small pile of neatly folded clothes that sits on the floor in the middle of the room catches your eye. You pull yourself out of the bed and walk over to the pile, finding a messily written note on top of the stack.  
_"Hope these fit alright. There weren't many choices, but I figured you would want to have something other than that coat to wear._  
-Flowey" __  
You can't help but smile, feeling incredibly touched by the flower's thoughtfulness.  
You set the note aside and take a look at the clothes. The pile consists of a blue sweater with pink stripes, a pair of jeans and a pair of simple brown boots. You make a face as you pick up the sweater. You're not a huge of the color pink, but you still put it on without complaint, beggars couldn't be choosers after all.  
Over all, the clothes fit surprisingly well. The sweater was somewhat loose and the jeans were a little bit short, but these were far better than wearing nothing but a trench coat.  
Once you're dressed, you leave the bedroom and make your way into the living room where you find Flowey resting on a nearby table.  
"Oh, you're awake!" He exclaims, “Do you like the clothes?"  
Truthfully, you think that you probably look like a homeless person right now (Which technically, you are.) But you proceed to nod and give Flowey a thumbs-up.  
"Good," Flowey sighs, looking relieved. "Here, I got you some breakfast." He gestures to a pie tin sitting next to him.  
The thought of food causes your stomach to grumble loudly. With an embarrassed smile you take a seat at the table and grab the tin, which holds about two thirds of a pie inside it.  
You serve yourself a slice of the pie and eagerly take a bite, the filling is butterscotch with a hint of cinnamon and it is absolutely delicious.  
As you eat, Flowey speaks up suddenly, "So.... there's some things I need to tell you about." He starts out awkwardly. "First off, do you know anything about the war between monsters and humans?"  
You shake your head as you reach for a second slice of pie.  
Flowey sighs, “I guess I'm going to have to start from the beginning then."  
Flowey takes a deep breath and begins to tell his tale...  
"A long time ago, the earth was ruled by two races: The humans and the monsters.  
For many millennia the two races lived in harmony. But one day, the humans learned about the monsters ability to take human souls.  
For you see... monster bodies and souls are mostly made of magic. When monsters die, their bodies turn to dust and their souls disappear.  
Humans however, are made of more physical matter. Their bodies remain when they die, and their souls are able to survive outside of their bodies for several moments after their passing.  
Because of this, monsters are able to take human souls and absorb them, turning them into creatures of unfathomable power.  
So, despite the fact that the practice of taking human souls had been outlawed by the monsters, once the humans learned of what the monsters were capable of, it planted a seed of fear into their hearts and over time it grew and grew until the humans declared war upon the monsters.  
In the end it was more of a massacre than a war. Thousands of monsters were dusted without the monsters gaining even a single human soul, and before long they were driven down into the underground caves buried beneath the mountain that had once served as a border between the human and monster kingdoms.  
Once the monsters were trapped underground, the humans gathered their greatest mages together and had them cast a barrier on the mountain, preventing the monsters from ever leaving their underground prison.  
The monsters spent the first several years of their imprisonment exploring the cave system and building themselves new homes here. Once the monsters had settled, King Asgore gathered the greatest scientific minds of the Monster Kingdom together to study the barrier in an attempt to figure out how to destroy it.  
Through their studies, we learned that it would take a power roughly equivalent to that of seven human souls to shatter the barrier. Upon learning this, the monsters fell into despair, for there was no way to create anything with such power.  
But then, many years later... a human fell into the underground. They were found by the Prince of the monsters and taken in by the King and Queen as one of their own. News quickly spread and the monsters were once again filled with hope. The child became a symbol of the possibility of peace between humans and monsters.  
The child lived with the royal family for several years. Becoming a second child to the King and Queen and a beloved sibling to the Prince, and for a time everybody was happy..."  
A strange look passed over Flowey's face, one that was full of sadness and nostalgia.  
"... But then tragedy struck. The human became ill, and despite the efforts of the King and Queen... they passed away soon after.  
Unable to accept the loss of his sibling, the Prince took the human's soul and absorbed it into himself, turning the Prince into a creature of the legends. Then the Prince took the human's body into his arms and crossed the barrier with them.  
...Nobody knows what happened on the surface. All that is known it that the Prince returned some time later, covered in wounds. He collapsed in the throne room with the human still in his arms, and he told the King and Queen that he had only wanted to bury his sibling beneath the golden flowers that they had once loved so much.  
The Prince died in the arms of his parents, his dust spreading across the throne room and a golden flower blooming where he had lain.  
The King and Queen were devastated. They had lost two children in one night, and the monsters had once again been robbed of their hope by the humans.  
Weeks passed and things only got worse. The underground was so devoid of hope that more and more monsters were falling down by the day and there was no sign of things getting better.  
But then, King Asgore gathered the monsters and made a decree: All humans who fell down underground were to be brought to him. So that one day, once seven souls had been gathered, the monsters would once again see the surface. And where the King had once talked of peace, he now promised to end the humans once and for all.  
It should be noted that the night after the King’s speech was given, the Queen suddenly vanished without a trace.  
But the thought of seeing the surface again had filled the monsters with hope once more. So much so that not even the news of their Queen’s disappearance could dampen the monsters spirits, for they had been given the smallest possibility of freedom and they were clinging to it no matter what, for the only other option was to fall into despair once again.  
Many years passed, and over time five humans fell down here. Some of them were taken to the King by force, while others found their way there on their own. But in the end, they all ended up sharing the same fate. They all met their ends by Asgore’s hand and their souls were claimed by him so that he could keep his promise to his people.  
Yet despite everything... none of the humans who fell down actually harmed anyone. A few of the humans even went out of their way to be friendly to the monsters, which resulted in the monsters feeling conflicted... and over time most monsters eventually gave up on capturing humans. Figuring that they would either head to Asgore on their own, or would live out their lives down here until they passed away of old age. Either way, monster-kind would gain another soul, and killing the humans had become much less appealing, since monsters were beginning to believe that maybe humans weren't as cruel as they had originally thought.  
But then... two years ago, a human fell down here who wasn't like the others... This human was violent and they dusted any monster that dared to cross their path."  
Flowey looked away from you then, his next words were heavy with sorrow, “By the time they were stopped, hundreds of monsters had been killed and everyone that remained had either been injured by the human's hand, or were left to grieve for friends and family that were now gone.  
The actions of that one human rekindled the monsters ancient hatred of the humans. People that were once ready to make peace now call out for vengeance and the monsters are now eagerly awaiting the arrival of the last human, so that their soul can be collected and they can finally break through to the surface to take back what they believe is owed to them."  
With a sigh, Flowey looks at you once more, staring intently into your eyes,"... Do you understand why I've told you all of this?"  
You stare blankly back at Flowey, unable to react as you process everything you've just been told.  
Flowey sighs again, “What I'm trying to get at is... I can't keep you here. Even if I wanted to, I really don't have what it takes to take care of a human. If you want to get out of here, you're going to have to make your way through the underground and you're going to have to face a lot of monsters who are very angry at humankind... Basically, I'm asking you if you are willing to do what it takes to survive out there?"  
You think about it for a moment. The thought of facing so many monsters made your stomach clench in fear. But as you think about what the monsters have been through, something starts to take form inside of you.  
Slowly, you nod at Flowey. He smiles a bit at you, apparently pleased with your answer.  
"Alright then, I supposed we should get you ready then."  
Your heart sinks slightly. You had hoped to stay a little bit longer, but you supposed that it wouldn't be right to intrude anymore upon the flower's kindness.  
Flowey asks you to pick up his pot. Once you are holding him he directs you to the stairway in the entrance-way and the two of you go down into the basement.  
The basement turns out to be an extremely long hallway. It takes you several minutes to traverse its length, all of which is spent in awkward silence.  
At the end of the hall is a large door. With some effort, you manage to push it open and find yourself walking into another long hallway. At the end of this hall way is a large room with a dirt floor and another door on the other side. It is here that Flowey asks you to put him down.  
As soon as you set him down, Flowey lunges out of his pot and plants himself into the soil on the ground here. Once he's settled, Flowey looks up at you with an apologetic smile on his face.  
"Alright Frisk. Before you go, there's just one more thing I have to show you."  
Flowey frowns in concentration for a moment, then you find yourself gasping as you feel a sudden tugging sensation in your chest and you watch in awe as a glowing red heart forms in front of you.  
"You see that heart there? That's your soul." Flowey explains, “It’s the culmination of your entire being. It will appear outside of your body while you are in a FIGHT. Do you understand so far?"  
You nod, though you do not remove your gaze from the soul.  
"Good." Says Flowey as he summons a few of the white pellets you saw him create earlier," Now, when you are in a FIGHT, monsters are going to try to hit your soul with bullets like these ones here. You job here is to dodge them so that they do not hurt you. You got that?"  
Once again, you nod.  
"Alright! Why don't you try and dodge these then?" Flowey asks as he sends the pellets towards you.  
The pellets move pretty slowly, so you are easily able to sidestep away from them. Flowey beams with pride at your success.  
"Good job! Now, how about this?"  
Flowey sends a larger number of pellets at you, but you still move away from them with relative ease.  
Once you cleared through the attack, a loud rumbling suddenly fills the room. Suddenly several large vine burst forth from the ground, effectively blocking the exits.  
"Good!" Flowey praises, though his smile looks a bit less friendly now, “Now that we know you have the basics down, it's time for the REAL test."  
You watch in horror as the room suddenly fills up with white pellets. You are completely surrounded by them.  
"Alright Frisk," Says Flowey, his voice taking on an ominous tone, “It’s time for you to prove that you can survive down here."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! I really am glad to be done with this chapter! (Mostly... I'm obviously going to have to edit it at some point.)   
> From here on out thing should start to get more interesting (The chapter after the next one is one that I'm really looking froward to) and updates will hopefully start happening more frequently, as I've made it a goal to do at least one hour of writing a day (I've been able to keep up with it so far, we'll see how long it lasts though)  
> Anyway, see you guys next chapter!


	4. Battle... START.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my fucking god, I am SO sorry for this taking so long. Life and procrastination just kept happening until I suddenly realized that I had gone over four months without posting a chapter... oops.
> 
> I'm just going to apologize for the fight scene being a little clunky. I'm pretty sure that this is the first one I've actually written, so I have NO clue what I'm doing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Chapter Four: Battle... START.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Without warning, several of the bullets come flying at you at a much faster speed then the previous ones. You throw yourself out of their path with a frightened squeak, landing roughly onto the ground, and through nothing but sheer luck, you find yourself unharmed.  
You try to look up at Flowey, wanting to find a way to convince him to stop this. But before you even have the chance, more bullets are being sent your way, forcing you to focus on rolling away from them.  
This goes on for several minutes. You are not even given a moment to stand up and despite your best efforts, some of the attacks hit you. Each time this happens, you feel a strange sensation in your chest and you see a number in your mind counting downwards.  
19/20  
18/20  
17/20  
16/20  
Then, as suddenly as the attacks started, they stop.  
You immediately take the opportunity to get up off of the ground. Once you're standing, you turn to look at Flowey questioningly.  
"It's your turn now," Flowey explains in answer to your look, "You need to attack me."  
Attack... him? No. You shake your head and cross your hands in an "X" shape in front of your chest.  
Flowey frowns at your reaction. "No?... Frisk, I don't think you understand."  
Several more bullets appear and launch themselves at you. With much ducking and weaving you avoid all but one that grazes your cheek.  
15/20  
"While I might not want to hurt you, the monsters outside the ruins will. And when that happens, you're going to have to defend yourself if you want to have any chance of making it out of here alive!" Flowey exclaims.  
Your turn arrives, but you do nothing other than stand there and give Flowey a pleading look.  
Flowey sighs annoyedly as he launches his next attack. The bullets moving faster and in more complicated patterns than before.  
"What are you trying to prove?" Flowey asks as you dodge through the onslaught. "What do you hope to accomplish by getting yourself killed?"  
As you move, your ankle suddenly rolls, causing you to fall again. As you hit the ground, several bullets strike you from all sides, causing you to cry out in pain.  
7/20  
"Do you understand what will happen if you die? Your soul is the last one the monsters need to destroy the barrier." Says Flowey, "And if they do that, they are going to wage war upon humanity! Is that what you want?"  
You force yourself to stand again, despite the pain that is wracking your entire body.  
"People will die, Frisk." Flowey says with a solemn expression, “The only way to prevent that is for you to escape from here."  
You look Flowey in the eyes and shake your head once more. You understand why he's doing this, but you cannot do what he's asking of you. There has to be another way.  
"Come on Frisk..." Flowey sighs. "Are you afraid that I'll get hurt? Because I can promise you that I'll be fine."  
He sends a single bullet flying towards you. You make no effort to dodge it and it hits you square in the chest, taking your breath away for a moment.  
6/20  
"I'm not asking you to kill anyone or anything like that." Flowey continues, beginning to sound distressed. "I'm just asking you to protect yourself!"  
Another bullet comes, you let it hit you again.  
5/20  
"So please...."  
Another bullet, moving slower than the previous ones  
It hits you and you fall to your knees.  
4/20  
"Just ATTACK me..."  
You still don't move when the next bullet comes, but it nearly misses you anyway.  
3/20  
"Why? Why are you doing this?!" Flowey practically screams in frustration, as he sends a few more bullets towards you.  
You don't really know yourself. But as you think about the monsters and what they've been through, an idea is starting to take shape root in your mind.  
The bullets gently brush against your soul, but you find that they hurt much more than the ones that had struck your body.  
1/20  
"You told me you would do whatever it takes." Flowey says as he droops forward slightly, causing his face to become hidden in shadow. "Was that a lie?"  
As you stare at the living flower, the feeling that has been sitting in your chest begins to swell within you.  
Slowly... painfully, you stand up and take a step towards Flowey.  
He looks up at you, his expression questioning.  
You take another step, and then another. Moving causes you agony, but you grit your teeth, push through the pain and keep going.  
As you make your way towards him, Flowey continues to look confused.  
"What are you do-?"  
Flowey stops abruptly as you fall to your knees in front of him. Slowly, you reach forward and wrap your arms around him. As it turns out, hugging a flower is a rather awkward endeavor, but you manage it somehow.  
For a moment, Flowey doesn't react to your sudden embrace. Then, you hear soft laughter coming from the flower as he eventually leans into your touch.  
"I guess that's it then..." Flowey murmurs, "You really are a piece of work, you know that?"  
Gently, you pull away from Flowey so that he can see your face and you give him an understanding smile. You had been told your whole life that you were strange, though usually people worded it a lot less nicely than Flowey had.  
“We should probably do something about your wounds.” Says Flowey after he's taken a good look at you. “You wait here, I'll be back in just a minute.”  
With that, Flowey disappears into the earth beneath him. In his absence, you suddenly realize how completely and utterly exhausted you are. You find that even the effort of sitting up straight is too much and you end up simply falling backwards onto the dirt, content to just lay there until Flowey’s return.  
True to his word, Flowey reappears a few minutes later, carrying a few colorfully wrapped candies in his mouth. He drops the candies onto your chest and says, “Here, these should help.”  
You cast a doubtful look at the flower, unsure as to how candy was supposed to help anything. But you unwrap one of the sweets and pop it into your mouth anyways. The candy instantly dissolves in your mouth, leaving behind a taste that you can only describe as distinctly not licorice flavored.  
After you've eaten the candy, a light tingling sensation spreads through our your body and you watch in amazement as your wounds start to close before your eyes.  
You look questioningly at Flowey, who simply lifts his leaves in his best impression of a shrug and says, “Magic.” as an explanation.  
Several minutes and another candy later, the only remaining sign of your fight with Flowey was the fact that you were still a bit tired from the physical exertion of it.  
“So… You really plan on going through the Underground without fighting anyone?” Flowey asks.  
You nod.  
“And there's nothing I can say to convince you to do otherwise.”  
You shrug, wearing an apologetic smile as you do so.  
Flowey heaves a long, drawn out sigh before he speaks again. “Then… I guess this is goodbye. I'm sorry I wasn't able to do more for you.”  
You gently pat Flowey on the head and try your best to put on an expression that properly expresses your gratitude to the flower for everything he’s already done for you. You don't think that you quite succeed, but Flowey still seems to lighten up a bit at your effort.  
You decide that you shouldn't put off your departure any longer, so you give Flowey a somewhat awkward wave before you head for the door on the other side of the room. After taking a deep breath to steel yourself, you give the humongous door a push and find yourself shivering as a cold wind it let in through the open doorway.  
"WAIT!"  
You turn to look back at Flowey, somewhat startled by his sudden call.  
"I..." Flowey falters for a second, blushing embarrassedly before he resumes quickly, his words coming out in a flustered jumble, "I hope that you can prove me wrong Frisk! I really do hope that you can getting through this place.... without killing... and without being killed. Just... be careful... alright?"  
You give Flowey a thumbs up, giving him a silent promise that you would do your best.  
"Alright then... Good luck, Frisk." Says Flowey with a soft smile.  
With that, you turn back to the doorway and step through it. Once you're on the other side, the door closes behind you with a loud 'THUD'. There was no turning back now.  
You take a moment to look at your new surroundings. You're now standing in the middle of a wintery forest, surrounded on all sides by huge leafless trees and untouched snow covering the ground. (You wonder how an underground cave could have snow, but end up shrugging it off and chalking it up to some kind of magic.)  
A thrill of nervousness passes through you as you think about the impossible task ahead of you. But as you breath in the scent of pine trees and watch the gentle fall of snowflakes around you, the feeling in your chest swells until it fills your entire being.  
You start to walk farther into the woods, your steps fueled with DETERMINATION.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Flowey watches as Frisk the human steps through the doorway into Snowdin Forrest, his heart feeling heavy with the realization that this was likely the last time he was going to see them.  
"I'm sorry..." He says out loud into the empty room. "I wish I could have done more to help them."  
He sighs heavily before continuing. "I wish you were still here. I know that you would have been able to take care of them and love them and protect them... All I could do was give them an old pie and some useless advice."  
At his words, a sudden warmth spreads through Flowey. A warmth that radiates comfort and reassurance.  
' _It's okay Asriel. I know you did everything you could._ '  
"Heh," Flowey lets out a dry chuckle. "Thanks, Mom."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHOO! We're done with the ruins! I'm super excited to get into this part of the story.  
> I really hope I'll be able to get the next part out faster, but I promise that even if it takes awhile, I'm not going to stop working on this story!


	5. Baby, It's cold outside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... Well, this is awkward.  
>  I'm going to go into detail as to why I've been absent for so long. But I've kept you guys waiting long enough!
> 
> At least it's a pretty long chapter?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Chapter Five: Baby, it's cold outside.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"..ke...up."  
"unnngh."  
"Wake up!"  
"nooooo."  
"SANS! GET OUT OF BED THIS INSTANT!"  
Just before Sans is able to let out another groan of protest, he is cut off as his sheets are suddenly pulled out from underneath him, causing Sans to tumble off of his bed and onto the floor with a dull 'thud'.  
Not bothering to get up, Sans shoots an annoyed glare at the fire elemental who was standing by his bed.  
"what the hell was that for!?" Sans exclaims.  
In response to Sans' question. the fire elemental crosses his arms and looks down at the skeleton in a stern manner before asking, "Sans. When was the last time you left the house?"  
Sans looks confused, “what’re you goin' on about grillby? you saw me yesterday."  
"Let me rephrase." Says Grillby with a sigh, “When was the last time you left the house and went somewhere that isn't my bar or Papyrus' memorial?"  
"uhhhh..." Sans finds himself unable to answer Grillby's question, knowing full well that the fire elemental would immediately see through him if he tried to tell a lie.  
"That's what I thought." Huffs Grillby, "Also, when was the last time you cleaned in here? Your entire house is _filthy_."  
Sans simply shrugs, "dunno... haven't really seen the point of it."  
With another sigh, Grillby sits down on the edge of Sans' mattress and gestures for Sans to join him. With much grunting, Sans picks himself off of the floor and climbs up onto the mattress to sit next to the fire elemental.  
Once Sans is settled, Grillby speaks with solemness in his voice.  
"I know things have been hard for you over the past few years Sans... Papyrus' death has been... difficult on me as well. And I'm certainly not asking you to stop feeling the way you feel. But... I also cannot allow you to continue with this behavior. It feels like ever since Papyrus passed away, you've just... stopped caring. You've shut yourself away from the people who care about you and do nothing other than lay around and feel sorry for yourself. You and I both know that this isn't what Papyrus would have wanted for you."  
Sans barely resists the urge to roll his eyes as he listens to Grillby's speech. He had been through several different variations of this conversation before today, and he was thoroughly sick of it by now.  
"listen, grillby." He says with an irritated sigh, "i appreciate what you're tryin' to do here. really, i do. but i ain't a kid anymore, so i really don't need ya to come in here and treat me like one. i'm perfectly capable of takin' care of myself."  
"Is that so?" Grillby asks, in a tone that suggests that he would be raising an eyebrow if he had any to do so with, "Well, you seem to be doing a pretty shitty job of it right now."  
Sans quickly turns to Grillby with a look of indignation on his face. As he starts to protest, Grillby cuts him off with a flaming finger pressed against his non-existent lips.  
"And, even if that weren't the case..." Grillby continues, “You know I made a promise to your Father many years ago that I would take care of you and your brother should anything happen to him, that hasn't changed just because you're an adult now. Which is why I'm going what is best for you, wither you like it or not."  
In one fluid movement, Grillby lifts himself from the mattress and picks Sans up with an ease that annoys the skeleton greatly.  
"hey! what the hell!?" Sans cries out as he tries to squirm himself free of the flaming monster's arms.  
Grillby doesn't bother to reply as he carries Sans from his room, down the stairs and across the Living-room. Once he is standing by Sans’ front door, he places the skeleton down, opens the door and looks down at Sans expectantly.  
Sans meets Grillby's expression with a look that was the closest thing his skeletal features could get to a pout, "What exactly are you expectin' me to do?"  
Grillby sighs annoyedly, knowing full well that Sans is being difficult on purpose, and gestures vaguely to the space outside of Sans' door. "You are going to get out of this house and do... something, I don't really care what. Go take a walk in the woods or visit Alphys or... anything that'll keep you away from here for a few hours!"  
With that, Grillby shoves Sans out onto his front steps and closes the door behind him, leaving no more room for argument.  
For several moments, Sans proceeds to do nothing other than glare at his front door. He briefly considers spending the day with Papyrus, just to spite the fire elemental. But when he turns and walks down his steps, Sans finds himself turning in the direction of his sentry post instead, and it wasn't because he wanted to take a "shortcut". It was because as much he hated to admit it to himself, Grillby did have a point.  
So Sans found himself walking through Snowdin forest, following the route that he used to take with Papyrus every day as they did their morning rounds. Every step he took leading him to a landmark that sparked a different memory of his brother to play in his mind.  
_There's the first puzzle Papyrus built as a royal guardsman._  
_There's the clearing we used to build snow sculptures in._  
_That's the spot where Paps first used his special attack._  
_Here's where I broke my arm that one time._  
_Just past those trees is the cave we used to use as a secret hide out..._  
One by one, Sans' mind is assaulted by these memories. Each one causing a saddened twinge to pull at his soul. This is what he had been trying to avoid over these past few years, thinking about the times he had spent with his brother only served as a painful reminder to Sans of all he had lost.  
And yet...  
It didn't hurt as much as he thought it would.  
As Sans passes by Papyrus' sentry station, he thinks back to the day his brother had gotten accepted into the royal guard. He pictures Papyrus' excitement and he remembers the pride he had felt as he watched his brother finally achieve his life-long dream.  
And Sans finds himself genuinely smiling, if only for a brief moment.  
After that, it doesn't take long for Sans to come across his own station. He steps behind the booth and reaches underneath the counter to grab one of his condiment bottles. He considers taking a swig of its contents, but is prevented from doing so when he realizes that they are frozen solid.  
"huh," Says Sans to himself."i guess you've had plenty of time to relax, because now you seem pretty _chill_."  
Sans can't help but give a quiet chuckle at his own, admittedly horrible, pun. In his mind, he can vividly picture Papyrus' reaction to it.  
_Papyrus glares at him as he lets out a frustrated whine. "SANS! THAT WAS AWFUL! EVEN FOR YOU!"_  
_"aw, come on paps." Sans would reply, his grin turning mischievous,"i thought it was a very 'ice' pun."_  
_"SANS!!!"_  
_And yet, despite his protests, Sans would always see the glimmer of amusement in Papyrus' eye before he turned and stomped away, muttering to himself about how someone as great as him shouldn't have to deal with such horrible jokes._  
_And then... once his brother was gone, Sans would leave his post to go tell the same jokes to..._  
As Sans puts the frozen condiment bottle back on its shelf, he finds himself staring at the purple door that stands tall and unmoving in the distance, feeling nostalgic for the hours he would spend there, telling bad jokes to the lady on the other side.  
Not for the first time, Sans wonders if the lady is still in there. If she had survived the attack from two years ago...  
He doubts it, but it's still a nice thought.  
Sans considers going over to the door, for old times’ sake. But before he can come to a decision, his thought are interrupted by a loud scraping sound.  
_'What the-?'_  
Sans scrambles out from his booth, frantically looking around for the source of the sound. After several moments, his gaze falls back upon the ruins and he is struck with a sudden realization.  
The door is open.  
And there is someone coming through it.  
Dread immediately fills the short skeleton, because he remembers all too well what happened the last time those doors opened.  
In the blink of an eye, Sans teleports himself into the thick wall of trees that flank the pathway that leads to his station. He had a pretty good idea at what he was going to find there, but he desperately hoped that he was wrong.  
... He wasn't.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
As you walk down the pathway leading away from the ruins, you find yourself wishing that you hadn't left the trench coat behind. You've only been out here for a few minutes and already you can feel a chill seeping deep into your skin, causing your body to shiver and your teeth to chatter.  
But it's too late to turn back now. So you press forward, hoping that you will find some sort of shelter soon.  
The pathway you are walking down is long, straight and silent. The trees around you all look identical, so the only sign you have that you've made any progress is the sight of the ruins growing more distant each time you look back.  
With each step you take, you feel a growing sense of unease. You soon find that the shivers racking your body aren't just from the cold, but also from the deep, unnerving feeling that you are being watched.  
After a while, you eventually come up to a wooden bridge leading over a deep, dark chasm. Your heart leaps into your throat at the sight of such a large drop, and it is with great effort that you take your first step onto the bridge. Rather than look down into the abyss, you find yourself examining the details of the bridge to distract yourself. Looking up, you see some sort of frame with uneven, broken looking bars protruding from it. It appears to have been a gate once, but it had clearly been destroyed some time ago.  
You take a moment to breathe a sigh of relief once you pass the bridge, but you refuse to stop for long. Taking a look around, you see that you are now in some sort of clearing and a little ways off there is some sort of structure.  
You immediately run over to the structure, which you guess must be some sort of sentry station, though it appears to have been abandoned for some time now, if the rather thick layer of untouched snow covering the counter-top was anything to go by. When you take a look inside it, you are disappointed to find that not only will this place not provide any real shelter for you, but there also isn't anything of use on its shelves, only frozen bottles of condiments.  
With a sigh, you step out of the station and continue on your way.

____

~~~~~~~~~~  
_fuck…_  
_FUCK._  
_that's a human._  
_there’s a human in snowdin._  
_no._  
_nonononoNoNONONONO._  
_THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING._  
_NOT AGAIN._  
_OHGODPLEASENOTAGAIN._  
Sans was barely aware of the fact that he had fallen onto the ground, laying on the forest floor as he curled in on himself and desperately tried to reign in the thoughts his panicked mind was flooding into his head.  
But despite his efforts, he was unable to stop the flow of images passing in front of his eyes-  
_~ He's walking through the forest, his skull feeling like it's being crushed by the oppressive silence. Where is everyone? Shouldn't the dogs be at their posts?_  
_~ He trips over a large clump of snow, only to take a closer look at it and realize that it isn't snow…_  
_~ He's in the middle of Snowdin town, surrounded by monsters running for their lives._  
_~ He's watching as Papyrus stands before the human, looking uncharacteristically tired and the armor he had received from Undyne only a few weeks before is heavily damaged._  
_~ A deafening shot rings in the air._  
_~ He's holding Papyrus in his arms, helpless to do anything other than watch as his brother crumbles into dust._  
_~ He's running through waterfall with rage in his soul and magic on his fingertips. Following the trail of dust and destruction as he tries to catch up to the human._  
_~ Dust. Nothing but dust._  
_Where are they!?_  
_Why can’t he find them!?_  
_He has to stop them!_  
HE HAS TO STOP THEM!  
With a gasp, Sans finds himself laying in the snow. He tries to stand, but fails as a wave of dizziness hits him.  
_You’re hyperventilating. You need to calm down._  
_Breathe Sans._  
_Breathe._  
Sans forces himself to take a deep, slow breath. Then another. And another.  
He does this until his head stops spinning, and he finds himself able to pick himself up from off the ground. Once he's standing, Sans looks around and realizes that the human is nowhere to be seen.  
Sans curses under his breath, angry at himself for wasting so much time. Then he steps into a “shortcut”, hoping beyond hope that he can find the human before it's too late.  
~~~~~~~  
Just beyond the sentry station, the forest opens up around you. Becoming a clearing from which you can see that the pathway you're walking down splits off in a few different directions.  
Once you reach the fork in the road, you only stop for a moment before deciding to continue traveling on the path in front of you. Not really feeling any desire to do any exploring and instead hoping that you would find some shelter soon.  
The path you take leads into a tree-lined pathway, similar to the one you had been traversing a few moments ago. Although, you find this one much less oppressive.  
As you continue, you come across another sentry station. Again, it is extremely similar to the one you have already passed and you briefly consider leaving it alone, but in the end you decide to check it out.  
Inside the station you find shelves filled with neatly organized knick-knacks. Including: a assortment plastic figurines, a stack of cook books, a box of… cartoonish looking bones? And most importantly, inside a basket of knitting supplies, you find a blue woolen scarf and a pair of matching mittens.  
You feel an intense wave of relief wash over you at the sight of the clothing. Finally! Something that would somewhat protect you from the frigid air that had completely seeped into your bones at this point. You eagerly wrap the scarf around your neck and face, taking a moment to revel in the softness of the fabric before you pull the mittens on as well.  
“HEY!”  
With a startled squeak, you whirl around to face the source of the sudden voice. What you find is a large blue bird-like creature with a crest of white feathers crossing it's face in a shape resembling a snowflake. It's wings are folded in front of it's chest in a way that you suppose is meant to look like someone crossing their arms and it's face is locked in a stern expression that's honestly looks more cute than intimidating.  
“Don't you know it's not ‘cool' to take things that aren't yours?” The creature scolds you, it's voice the cracking, husky voice of a teenage boy stuck smack-dab in the middle of puberty.  
At his words, you feel your stomach sink as you are hit with a sudden wave of guilt. In your desperation for warmth, it really hadn't occurred to you that _of course_ these items had to belong to someone.  
Your guilt must have shown somehow in your posture, because the bird creature's face softened somewhat before he spoke again.  
“Look, it's not a big deal. You just gotta do the ‘ice' thing and put those back where you found them.”  
You can't help but snort at the bird's pun, which causes his expression to brighten considerably, before you nod in agreement and get to work on removing the garments.  
Once you've carefully folded the clothes and put them back in their place, you turn back to the bird creature, only to see that his face, which had been bright and smiling only a moment ago, now bore a fearful expression.  
“W-wait a m-minute,” he stammered, his body tense and alert, ready to fight or flee at a moments notice, “Y-you're a Human!”  
Seeing the monster's fear, you immediately take a step back and lift your hands in what you hope is a placating gesture, only to have him visibly flinch at the movement.  
“Please, don't kill me!” the monster cries.  
Damn it! You're only making things worse! In a desperate attempt to get him to understand you, you start shaking your head furiously and waving your arms around.  
You're not entirely sure what you're hoping to accomplish by flailing around like an idiot, but the only reaction you receive from the bird monster is a frightened screech before he turns tail and runs into the woods, screaming, “HUMAN! THERE'S A HUMAN! THERE'S A HUMAN IN SNOWDIN!”  
As his voice gradually fades into the distance, all you can do is stand there, frozen to the spot in dumb shock as you try to process what's just happened.  
That… could have gone better.  
But... it could have gone worse? He didn't attack you at least. And you even least managed to make him smile for a moment there...  
After taking some time to collect yourself, you keep moving forward. Allowing yourself to feel the tiniest spark of hope. If you managed to make one person smile, you could probably do it again!  
Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as you thought it was going to be.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
As Sans emerges from his "shortcut" near Papyrus' old station, he feels a wave of relief when he spots the human standing there. Only to be immediately struck with a rush of panic when he realizes that they aren't alone.  
Standing a few feet from the human is a Snowdrake that Sans recognizes as Snowy, the son of his buddy from the comedy club. The teenager appears to be completely oblivious to the danger he's in, most likely because the human has covered their face with some sort of... scarf.  
Wait a minute...  
If Sans' jaw weren't fused shut, it would have dropped open as Sans recognized the human's newly acquired garments. Memories flashing through his head of Papyrus sitting on their couch, contentedly knitting away as he watched MTT reruns in one of his rare moments of being quiet and calm.  
_That little shit had gone through Papyrus' things!_  
If Sans hadn't been ready to blast the human to smithereens before, he certainly was now.  
Sans raises his left hand, fingers poised to snap and release all of his building magic at the human. Only to hesitate as the scene unfolds before him.  
He can hear Snowy talking to the human, making one of his usual terrible ice puns. But he is shocked when he hears the human laugh.  
The human's laugh is soft and genuine, which surprises Sans more than it probably should. He would have expected something more... evil?  
After they finished laughing, Sans is yet again surprised when the human removes the scarf and mittens and carefully folds them before replacing them back onto Papyrus' shelf.  
Without the scarf, Sans is able to get a good look at their face. Their expression is sheepish and a little... guilty? It's certainly not the face of a killer.  
Sans watches as Snowy finally catches onto the fact that his new friend is a human and quickly goes into a panic. As the Snowdrake starts screaming for help, the human's face becomes just as frightened as the bird monster's. Under different circumstances, this whole scene would have been quite hilarious.  
The human does nothing to stop Snowy as he runs off into the woods, still calling for help. In fact, all they do for several moments is stand there, looking small and confused and.... a little hurt? In that moment, a realization comes crashing down on Sans like a ton of bricks.  
_They're just a kid._  
The more he looks at them, the more obvious it becomes. Sans remembers when the previous human had finally been stopped. When he looked at their face and was surprised by how young they had looked. And this one is tiny in comparison.  
_'Don't let your guard down.'_ Sans mentally scolds himself. _'Just because they're young doesn't mean they aren't dangerous.'_  
With a sigh, Sans lets the magic drain from his hands and instead focuses it into his left eye. Normally this power is reserved for when he's on duty, but this really can't wait.  
The human needs to be judged.  
As power fills his eye, the world around him fades away into darkness, turning everything into nothing more than hazy silhouettes as he focuses on the human's soul, which glows bright red against the dimmed world around it.  
Once the soul has fully come into focus, Sans probes at it lightly with his magic, causing a flood of information to rush into his mind. Sans ignores most of it and instead he carefully wades through the current until he finds what he is looking for.  
_LV: 1_  
_EXP: 0_  
The wave of relief that rushes over Sans nearly knocks the breath out of him. It's kind of funny, how important two little numbers could be.  
Sans releases his magic and allowed himself a moment to breathe as his will to fight drains out of him like air from a punctured balloon.  
The human hadn't killed anyone.  
_...Yet._  
Sans watches as the human finally snaps out of their stupor and starts to walk again. After a brief moment of hesitation, Sans follows. Just because they hadn't hurt anyone yet, that didn't mean that they wouldn't change their mind.  
He had to keep an eye on them. He had to be sure that if things went wrong, he would be there to end it immediately.  
He wouldn't be too late this time.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~  
_OW._  
You cry out in wordless pain as you are knocked to the ground once more. But despite your pain you are quick to get back onto your feet, not wanting to leave yourself open to your attackers.  
Your turn arrives and you take the opportunity to fish the last of Flowey's candies from your pocket and pop it into your mouth, the magic sweet numbing the pain to a more manageable level and healing most of the scratches and forming bruises. Not that they'd be gone for long, at this rate.  
Your attackers (A snowflake bird like the one you had talked to earlier, although this one was larger, with green feathers and wearing sunglasses. A little snowman dude wearing a rather impressive hunk of ice as a hat, and a weirdly shaped white monster who's name is Jerry. Which you know because the other two monsters immediately groaned his name in annoyance upon his arrival.) are quick to launch back into their onslaught. The bird and snowman pelting you with bullets made from ice and snow while Jerry seemed content to keep himself glued to his phone and occasionally look up to give unhelpful criticism.  
You don't know how much longer you can take this. Between the frigid air and the freezing ice attacks, your body is quickly growing numb from the cold and despite your constant state of movement, the exercise is doing nothing to warm you up. When the fight first started, you were actually faring pretty well for yourself, dodging through bullets with an ease that surprised you. But now your movements have grown clumsy and it’s taking all of your concentration to remain standing, let alone to try and weave your way through the monster's increasingly complex attack patterns.  
You're in bad shape by the time your next turn comes around. As the attacks come to a sudden halt, you find yourself standing frozen in place, your mind scrambling as you try to think of something to do. You'd already tried miming your intentions, writing in the snow, simply standing there with your arms crossed and a pleading look on your face. All of them were attempts to get the monsters to understand that they weren't an enemy, and all of them turned out to be spectacular failures.  
At this point, you're injured, you're cold, you’re _tired_ and you really have no chance of getting away if you try to run.  
Which really only leaves you with one option…  
With a grimace, you fall to your knees and then bend forward until your forehead brushes against the snow covered ground, your hands clasped together in front of you, as if in prayer. Begging as best you could without words for your attackers to spare your life.  
Several moments pass, the air heavy with silence that’s broken only by your labored breathing. When you finally dare to look up at your attackers, you find them looking at each other confusedly, none of them knowing how to react to this new predicament.  
“hey”  
You hear a voice from somewhere behind you and your body tenses in fear as your attackers attention turn to it’s source.  
“what’s goin’ on here?” Asks the newcomer, his voice is deep and thick with a heavy boston accent.  
“Mr. Sans!” The snowman looking monster pipes up, “We found a human!”  
“A human, huh?” You hear footsteps before the voice speaks again, sounding closer, “so it appears you have.”  
“Yeah dude! We managed to stop it and everything!” Exclaims the bird, looking excited before he catches himself and forces his expression back into it’s cool facade.  
“which is a job you really shoulda left to the royal guards.” The voice scolds, “do ya realize how much danger you would have been in if the human here had made any real effort to hurt you?”  
The three younger monsters, who had been swelling with pride, all deflated simultaneously at the newcomer’s words.  
“look,” You hear a heavy sigh come from the newcomer, “you kids should head home, alright? i’ll take care of the human from here.”  
With nothing more than stiff nods in reply, your attackers turn and hurriedly obey the newcomer’s request. Disappearing into the trees within moments and leaving you alone with the newcomer.  
You don’t dare to move as you hear the footsteps of the newcomer, hardly even blinking when a pair of blue sneakers step into your field of view.  
“human,” The newcomer addresses you, his voice low and menacing, “don’t ya know it’s rude to not look at someone when they’re talkin’ to you?”  
_‘Gee, sorry mister. I seem to have completely forgotten my manners for some reason.’_ You think, then feel surprised that you are able to come up with something this snarky at a time like this.  
You take a deep breath to steel yourself before you bring yourself to look up at the newcomer, only to immediately have that breath stolen from you as you realize exactly what he is.  
_A skeleton! An honest to god living SKELETON._  
This... this is just too much. You feel tears starting to form in your eyes as you suddenly become _very_ aware of how overwhelmed you are.  
“woah,” Says the skeleton, lifting his hands in a placating gesture that looked pretty similar to the one you tried on the blue bird monster earlier. It works on you about as well as it did on him.  
“woah,” Repeats the skeleton as you suddenly start breaking down into hysterical crying. “woah kid, calm down. i’m not gonna hurt ya, alright?’  
You hear him, but it’s too late. The tears have already started and you don’t think you’re going to be able to stop them anytime soon. The skeleton seems to realize this as well, since he stops trying to comfort you and instead sits down in the snow to wait it out.  
It feels like an eternity. Every time you start to calm down, another wave of sobs suddenly overtakes you. But eventually, your tears cease and you end up falling face-first onto the snow covered ground, completely and utterly spent.  
“you done?” Asks the skeleton.  
All you can manage as a reply is a soft groan. He seems to take it as an affirmative and picks himself up from the ground with a grunt.  
“come on kid,” He says as he offers you a hand, “we should get goin’.”  
You REALLY don’t want to go with him. All you honestly want right now is to lay there and sleep for the rest of eternity. But something about his tone tells you that you really don’t have a choice right now. So with a pained moan and much internal complaining, you pick yourself up from the ground enough to take his offered hand.  
Even with his help, it takes an embarrassingly long time for you to get onto your feet. And once you’re up, you only manage to take a handful of steps before your legs buckle beneath you.  
“hey kid, you okay?”  
You barely hear the skeleton’s question as the world starts to spin around you and your vision rapidly goes black at the edges.  
The last thing you see is the snow rushing up to meet you and a flash of blue sneakers before everything goes black.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, first things first: *Inhales* SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS  
> *Ahem* Now that I've got that out of my system, I suppose I owe an explanation.
> 
> First of all: I got hit with REALLY bad writer's block. I wrote this chapter up to Sans' panic attack in about a day, but then I sort of... hit a wall. Which really sucked because I WANT to write this story. I think about it literally every day. It's just that the parts I want to write are in the middle of the story and obviously I have to write a beginning before I get to the middle, so that's kind of where I got stuck.
> 
> Second of all: Life just got really crazy. Between activities and taking care of my Grandma after she had her ankle replaced and my Mom rupturing a disc in her back... yeah, things got pretty nuts for awhile there.
> 
> The (hopefully) good news is that it's Nanowrimo time! And I'm using it to work on this story. So hopefully I'll have a few chapters finished before the end of this month.
> 
>  
> 
> Anyway! I'm really curious to know what you guys think about this chapter. This is the point where things start to get interesting and I'm really looking forward to introducing all the characters and showing you guys all the things that are different about this version of the underground.  
> I have so many plans guys. So. Many. Plans.


End file.
